This time, the man did not beat around the bush and spoke truthfully: “This humble person has come here for… precisely the Crown Prince!”
Li Jiancheng frowned, and before he could ask, the man had already placed one hand on his chest and bowed to him: “Zhishisili of the Khagan’s tent greets the Crown Prince and Prince Qi!”
“Khagan…” Li Jiancheng murmured in repetition, then in the next moment exclaimed in a low voice: “You are a Turk?”
“Precisely!” Zhishisili lowered his eyes: “This humble person follows the Khagan’s command and has come especially to pay respects to the Crown Prince!”
Li Jiancheng suppressed the thoughts in his heart and said in a low voice: “What do you come here for?”
“The Khagan has always greatly admired Your Highness the Crown Prince, often praising Your Highness’s virtue and wisdom before this humble person, saying that with Your Highness in the Great Tang, the nation would surely prosper for thousands of generations. At that time, he even specially selected a precious sweating blood horse presented by the tribes, intending to gift it to Your Highness. Who would have known that before it could be sent, we heard that Your Highness had been deposed and His Majesty had appointed the Prince of Qin as Crown Prince instead. This was truly shocking.”
Li Yuanji blurted out: “Father never appointed Li Shimin as Crown Prince. He simply forced the palace and rebelled!”
“Yuanji!” Li Jiancheng glared at him, then said: “You say you are called Zhishisili? After the latter nodded, he continued: “I remember the Turks have a Zhishi tribe. For you to be qualified to appear here, you must be the chieftain of the Zhishi tribe, correct?”
Zhishisili smiled: “Nothing can truly be hidden from Your Highness. Indeed, this humble person is the chieftain of the Zhishi tribe.” Saying this, he added: “The Khagan, knowing that Your Highness was exiled to Xiliang by the Prince of Qin, was very worried and specially ordered this humble person to come here to visit. Alas, how can such a harsh and remote place be where Your Highness should stay?”
Li Jiancheng smiled vaguely: “Does the chieftain intend to keep speaking such pleasantries without getting to the point?”
Zhishisili was startled, then laughed: “These are all sincere words from the Khagan and this humble person, without any mere pleasantries. However, since Your Highness has no mood to listen now, let us speak of another matter. I believe Your Highness will definitely be interested in this matter, which is…” At this point, he deliberately paused, obviously trying to whet Li Jiancheng’s appetite.
Though he had only heard half a sentence, Li Jiancheng had already guessed somewhat, but he did not reveal this. He did not want Zhishisili to control the initiative in their upcoming conversation.
Neither spoke, only staring at each other in deadlock. Li Yuanji did not understand their thoughts and, seeing them staring at each other without speaking, found it inexplicable and urged: “What is it? Just say it quickly!”
Seeing that Li Jiancheng consistently refused to follow his rhythm, Zhishisili secretly sighed. It seemed that controlling this person would not be as easy as they had previously imagined.
Finally, it was Zhishisili who first broke the deadlock, but his words were only six characters: “The throne of the Great Tang Emperor!”
Compared to Li Jiancheng’s calm, Li Yuanji appeared much more shocked, staring at Zhishisili with wide eyes: “You… what do you mean by this?”
Zhishisili smiled slightly: “This humble person just said that the Khagan has always believed that the Great Tang throne belongs to none other than the Crown Prince, so the Khagan has decided—to assist the Crown Prince in restoration!”
These words, like a flame, made the fire in Li Jiancheng’s chest that had never been extinguished suddenly burn fiercely. Jieli was right—the throne had always belonged to him, and Li Shimin was nothing but a bandit!
Though extremely excited, Li Jiancheng did not reveal this emotion, striving to maintain the same calm expression as before. He understood that there was no such thing as gratuitous kindness in this world, especially from the Turks who had always been enemies of the Great Tang: “What are the Khagan’s conditions?”
“The Crown Prince is truly straightforward.” After a pause, Zhishisili said solemnly: “After Your Highness ascends the throne, you will need to cede Yuanzhou, Shuozhou, Xinzhou, Bingzhou, and this Xiliang to us.”
Li Jiancheng shook his head: “Five prefectures all at once—your appetite is quite large.”
“Merely five prefectures. For the current Great Tang, this is hardly worth mentioning. The Khagan also regards Your Highness as a close friend, which is why he only asks for five prefectures. This deal has no harm and only benefits for Your Highness!”
Li Jiancheng stared at him for a long while, then said woodenly: “What if I refuse?”
Zhishisili was startled, then began to laugh: “Your Highness will not refuse, because this is Your Highness’s only way out. Don’t you Central Plains people have a saying: ‘Opportunity knocks but once’?”
Li Jiancheng glanced at the horses grazing leisurely in the enclosure and said coolly: “You know quite a lot, but I don’t think this is the best opportunity. I still have plenty of time to choose slowly.”
“This humble person remembers what Your Highness said earlier. Your Highness is only in his thirties, so naturally you still have time, but opportunities… forgive this humble person’s directness, but I truly don’t think Your Highness has any.” Amid Li Jiancheng’s slightly changing expression, Zhishisili continued: “The Prince of Qin has become emperor and controls all military power within the Great Tang territory. What about you two? Only two people. Even if there are some old subordinates who would still obey your commands, how many would there be? A thousand or ten thousand? Does Your Highness think that with such few people, you can contend with an emperor who possesses the entire realm? Never mind actual combat—provisions and military supplies alone could starve you to death.”
Li Yuanji said indignantly: “True, we don’t have many soldiers, but if elder brother raises his arms and calls out, naturally common people will come to join us. What difficulty would there be in gathering one or two hundred thousand people?”
His words caused Zhishisili to burst into laughter. Only when Li Yuanji repeatedly demanded answers did he stop laughing and say: “Prince Qi’s thinking is quite good, but unfortunately, the timing is wrong.”
Li Yuanji asked puzzledly: “What do you mean the timing is wrong?”
“If this had been seven or eight years ago, or even ten years ago, there would have been no problem. For example, the Li clan reached their current position by relying on popular uprisings. But now… unfortunately, it won’t work. If you really did this, this humble person can guarantee that fewer than a thousand common people would come to join you!”
Regarding his words, Li Yuanji scoffed: “Nonsense! Do you think I would believe you?”
“He’s not talking nonsense!” The speaker was none other than Li Jiancheng himself.
Li Yuanji stared at him blankly. After a long while, he finally found his voice and said with difficulty accepting it: “Elder brother, why are you speaking up for him?!”
Zhishisili smiled slightly: “The Crown Prince is not speaking up for this humble person, but stating a fact. During the end of the Sui Dynasty, wars broke out frequently throughout the realm, and the common people lived in poverty and hardship with no means of survival. So when someone called for uprising, they could often rally hundreds with a single call. But when they followed the uprising, they had no great aspirations—they simply wanted to eat a full meal and survive. But now, the people live in stability, far from warfare. Do you think they would destroy this stability and choose a path of uncertainty?”